Palestinian group says right to resist Israeli occupation \u2018cannot be relinquished until full national rights restored\u2019
\nGaza
\nHamas has rejected reports that it expressed a willingness to disarm during Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Israel, stressing that it has a \u201cnational and legal\u201d right to confront the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. The Palestinian group responded on Saturday to recent remarks purportedly made by United States President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, during a meeting with relatives of Israeli captives held in Gaza.
\nCiting a recording of the talks, Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the US envoy told the families that Hamas said it was \u201cprepared to be demilitarised\u201d. But in a statement, Hamas said \u201cthe resistance and its weapons are a national and legal right as long as the [Israeli] occupation persists\u201d.
\nThat right \u201ccannot be relinquished until our full national rights are restored, foremost among them the establishment of a fully sovereign, independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital\u201d, it said.
\nWitkoff met the Israeli captives\u2019 families in Tel Aviv on Saturday, one day after he visited a US and Israeli-backed aid distribution site run by the controversial GHF in Gaza.
\nHamas had earlier slammed the US envoy\u2019s trip as a \u201cstaged show\u201d aimed at misleading the public about the situation in the enclave, where an Israeli blockade has spurred a starvation crisis and fuelled global condemnation.
\nMore than 1,300 Palestinians also have been killed trying to get food at GHF-run sites since the group began operating in the bombarded Palestinian territory in May, the United Nations said earlier this week.
\nBut the Trump administration has stood firmly behind GHF despite the killings and growing criticism of the group\u2019s operations in Gaza. In June, Washington announced that it approved $30m to support GHF.
\nWitkoff\u2019s comments on disarmament also come amid a widening international push to recognise a Palestinian state amid the scenes of starvation in Gaza.
\nThe United Kingdom announced at a two-day United Nations conference in New York this week that it may follow France in recognising a Palestinian state in September.
\nEchoing an earlier statement by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said London would proceed with recognition if Israel did not meet certain conditions, including implementing a ceasefire in Gaza.
\nThe UN meeting also saw 17 countries, plus the European Union and the Arab League, back a seven-page text on reviving a two-state solution to the conflict.
\nThe text called on Hamas to \u201cend its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Palestinian group says right to resist Israeli occupation \u2018cannot be relinquished until full national rights restored\u2019 Gaza Hamas has rejected reports that it expressed a willingness to disarm during Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Israel, stressing that it has a \u201cnational and legal\u201d right to confront the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. The Palestinian group responded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469625,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-494648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n